


take it easy with me please

by oakleaf_bearer



Series: jon's ace and this is important to me [1]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Author has ADHD, Author is Asexual, Canon Asexual Character, F/M, Implied/Referenced Sex, Internalized Acephobia, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist Has ADHD, No Sex, Sex-Repulsed Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, jon learns what asexuality is, terrible coffee metaphors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:22:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27673967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oakleaf_bearer/pseuds/oakleaf_bearer
Summary: She leant forward over the table. "So there's not a single thing you like about coffee?"He thought. "The warmth, I guess? If nothing else it's nice to hold. Comforting.""Right.""Right. What's this about?"Georgie leant down to her bag and slapped a leaflet on the kitchen table. "Here."-georgie tries to take the next step and jon learns a new word
Relationships: Georgie Barker/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Series: jon's ace and this is important to me [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2010925
Comments: 54
Kudos: 447
Collections: Repulsed/Averse Ace Jon Archivist





	take it easy with me please

Jon pressed play. He was curled up in bed, back against the headboard and cross stitch in his hands. It was a hobby he'd gotten into after his grandmother had become frustrated when he interrupted his television programs with his fidgeting. Give his hands something to do and he could pay attention for hours. Cross stitches were a pleasant distraction for his thoughts. 

The theme song had just finished playing when Georgie came out of the bathroom. She blinked at him. 

"What are you doing?"

"Watching that documentary I was telling you about." He pointed to the screen of his laptop. "Oh, did you want to watch it with me? I can start it again."

"No, that's okay." She said slowly, climbing onto her side of the bed. 

He hummed and returned his attention to the screen. 

"My housemates will be out all night." She whispered, curling against his side.

"You said."

"It's just us."

"Mmm." 

She reached out and took the cross stitch out of his hands. 

"Georgie-"

"Jon." 

"I'm watching-" He pointed to the screen. "I've been looking forward to this documentary." 

She nuzzled against his neck. "It'll still be there." 

"Yeah, but it's really interesting. This episode is about Dover Castle."

"Mmm. Sounds fascinating."

"It is, there's a Roman lighthouse there. The curtain wall, that's the bit around the outside, you know, the wall, it's a mile long. There was restoration work done on the keep, it's now fully decorated again. With original techniques, it was a whole thing- What are you doing?" She was rubbing gentle circles into his belly. It felt a bit like she was petting him like a cat. 

Sighing, she sat back, closing his laptop and placing it on the bedside table, deaf to his sounds of protest. She clambered up, sitting herself on his lap. "What do you think I'm doing?" 

"I don't know. If you wanted to cuddle, you could've said, I wouldn't have minded wearing headphones."

"Christ Jon, you're so oblivious." She lowered herself against him and Jon's brain suddenly caught up.

"Oh, oh no, I'm sorry, you wanted- Right, my mistake." He awkwardly put his hands on his hips. "I'll, you know, get to work, I suppose." 

She snorted, shaking her head fondly. "Get to work?"

"No?"

"Not the usual phrase."

"What is the usual phrase?"

She leant forward and whispered something in his ear that made him blush furiously. 

"Oh!" His voice came out as a squeak. "Oh? I see. Yes, okay, right." 

She chuckled and leant down to kiss him, deep and slow, gently biting on his bottom lip. Jon just sort of sat there, letting her move (there was a shocking amount of moving) and trusting her to take the reigns, so to speak.

Apparently that was the wrong choice, because after a minute or so of kissing (and moving) she leant away from him. "You're still thinking about Dover Castle, aren't you?" 

"No."

"Jon."

He ducked his head, a little sheepish. "I was thinking about Edinburgh Castle." 

"Jon, your girlfriend is currently on top of you and you're thinking about Edinburgh Castle. Is everything okay?"

He nodded quickly. "Everything's fine! Sorry, I'm just distracted."

"Is this because I interrupted your documentary?"

"No, not that," He shook his head, then paused. "Well, sort of. I don't know." 

"Come on, tell me what's happening in that big brain of yours?" She wriggled backwards until she was sat more firmly on his thighs, a safe distance from any potential distractions. 

He tilted his head back, dropping it against the headboard. "I just didn't think this was going to happen tonight. I knew it would happen at some point, but I don't know. I wasn't expecting this." 

"I invited you over to my flat while my housemates were out. What did you think was going to happen?" 

He shrugged. "Not _this_ , I guess." 

Jon could see her mental cogs whirring away. "Jon, is this the first time anyone's done anything like this with you?" 

He nodded. "Is that bad?" 

"No, no, everyone takes things at their own pace, it's just-" She frowned. "I thought I was being obvious."

"You've told me extensively how oblivious I am." 

"And I love you for that, but still. I thought I was being Jonathan Sims levels of obvious." 

He shrugged, awkwardly fidgeting with the hem of her shorts. "I didn't pick up on it. I'm sorry." 

"Don't apologise, I just know to be even more obvious next time." 

He blanched. "There will be a next time?" 

"You don't want there to be a next time?"

"I've just... not considered it, I guess. It feels like a very big thing to discuss, and I knew it was going to come up at some point but I thought we would have more time."

"Are you nervous?"

He nodded. "Very much so. People make such a big deal out of having sex that I suppose I don't want to mess up."

"Mess up? Jon," Georgie laughed gently, stroking his face. "you won't mess up. It's not that big of a deal." 

"Isn't it?"

"Not at all. 

"But you like sex. People like sex. I'm going to like it, I just don't know how to-" He waved his hands. "I'm supposed to want to do this."

"Supposed to- Jon, if you don't want to then that's okay."

"But it's not fair to you for me to ask that you wait for me to get over my ridiculous hang ups." 

Georgie shook her head. "Come on, let's talk about this tomorrow. Tonight is clearly not the night. Finish your documentary, I'm going to get some water." 

Jon raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure?"

"More than."

"But aren't you-" He searched for the right words. "Don't you want to-"

Georgie grabbed his hand. "Jon, I love you, but do not finish that sentence, okay?"

"Okay."

A few days later he was sat at her kitchen table, a mug of coffee being pushed into his hands, grimacing about the smell. "I really don't understand why people like this."

"It's coffee."

"I'm aware."

Georgie gave him one of her ' _I'm plotting something, play along_ ' looks. "Lots of people like coffee."

"I know they do, I just don't get it."

"What don't you like about it?"

"The smell? The taste? Tea is just a far superior drink on all levels." 

She leant forward over the table. "So there's not a single thing you like about coffee?"

He thought. "The warmth, I guess? If nothing else it's nice to hold. Comforting."

"Right."

"Right. What's this about?" 

Georgie leant down to her bag and slapped a leaflet on the kitchen table. "Here." 

"What's this?" He pulled the leaflet towards himself. The bright flashy words on the front read ' _So You Think You're Queer?_ ''. "Georgie, I'm bi. You know that right? We are well past this." 

"Are we?" She asked. "Are you sure?"

"Is this about the other night? I know I'm attracted to women, I promise you I'm not gay."

"It's not that. I was just reading it when I was waiting for my appointment and I came across a bit that made me think of you. Particularly about the chat we had the other night." She took it out of his hands and flipped it open to one of the pages. "Here."

He stared down at the page she was holding out. "What- what is this?"

' _Asexuality_ ', the page announced. Georgie had clearly underlined it a couple of times. The page had a definition and a small chunk of text that Jon's eyes skipped right over. 

"Georgie, what is this?" Jon looked up at her. 

She was staring at him with an expectant expression. "Asexuality. It's the lack of sexual attraction." 

He was already shaking his head. "No, I know I am attracted to you." 

"Sexually?"

He paused. He knew Georgie was pretty, that much was clear. And she was funny, she always knew how to make him laugh. He liked spending time with her. He liked calling her his girlfriend. But as he tried to picture their relationship, each logical step of it, the part with sex was just... missing, he supposed. He couldn't picture it. 

"But, I like you. I know I like you."

"You can like me without it being sexual. Warmth without the smell or the taste, right?"

Jon blinked at her, then remembered the coffee in his hands. "That's a drink. Did you just compare our relationship to a drink?" 

"I knew if I thrust this onto you without some sort of metaphor you'd immediately panic. Make it weird or Jonathan Sims won't focus." 

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault. But what do you think?"

He stared at the leaflet. It was a possibility. Georgie was nice, he liked dating her, but the thought of doing... that made him feel sick. 

But people enjoyed sex. It seemed to be all people could talk about a lot of the time. If Jon didn't want that... 

"Georgie, is there something wrong with me?"

"What?" 

"Sex is normal, it's a thing normal people do. If I don't want it, surely that makes me-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there. Listen to me very carefully Jon." She took his hands. "Not wanting sex doesn't make you not normal. It just means you don't want sex. There isn't some preordained rule that says that sex is something everyone has to do. So you might be asexual, who cares? You're not broken. Being bi doesn't make you broken, why would this? It's just another label."

He gave her a small smile. "You're sure?"

"A thousand percent. Read the leaflet. If you agree with it, then we can do some more research. If not, then we can forget about this." She took the mug of coffee out of his hands. "Until then, let's not worry about that particular facet of a relationship." 

"But what about your needs."

She gave him a look that would've been withering had she not been grinning ear to ear. "Jon, I have dated plenty of very crappy dudes who aren't nearly as considerate as you. I can look after myself. This just means I won't have to fake it."

"Fake it." He frowned. "Fake what?"

She raised an eyebrow. 

"Oh! Oh good lord. Really?" 

"Oh yes."

"How often?"

"More than you'd think. Some people just don't know their way around down there." 

Jon felt somewhat lightheaded. "I doubt I'd be much better." 

"Well like I said, we aren't gonna worry about that until you've done your homework. Don't fall into a guilt spiral over this. Remember, you're not broken, no matter how much of that you agree with." She pointed at the leaflet. 

He nodded. 

Over the next half an hour of reading the leaflet, then opening up his laptop and reading some more, Jon felt more seen than he had in years. A comforting sort of warmth settled into his stomach. 

Asexual. Strange how one little word could make so much sense. 

**Author's Note:**

> i finished writing this and then i realised exactly how much i was projecting onto jon
> 
> why yes my hyperfixation is casltes, how could you tell?
> 
> come find me [on insta](https://www.instagram.com/statement_boo_gins/) or [on tumblr,](https://oakleaf--bearer.tumblr.com/) where i commit terrible audio crimes
> 
> title is from andante andante by abba


End file.
